Last week, my friend Aileen and I went to Zao Fox Village in Miyagi Prefecture. It was around 2-3 hrs. worth of commute from Ueno and it was super worth it!

I was actually feeling quite hesitant to go with our original plan because there was an earthquake in Fukushima again 2 days before the trip (where we had to stop by and change trains).... but we still went for it! I'm just so glad that I was able to spend such a lovely day with the foxes with Aileen. I super love her and her blog and she is really one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to taking risks and pursuing a life filled with colorful travels. She is one of the BEST travel bloggers out there & I'm pretty sure you'd agree with me if you're also a follower of her blog. Her blog is just sooo packed with useful & summarized travel information (+ other info like how to start a blog, how to earn online, etc.). So please, do give her lots of (blog) love because she deserves it! :)

It was such a special day because it actually snowed.. and it was NOVEMBER. Autumn x Winter combination was so BEAUTIFUL!

(though you gotta admit, it's really climate change.. >_<)

A photo of sleeping fox is enough to get through the day, haha!

Anyway ...

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Let's start with the fun day narration, shall we? ;)

So Aileen and I met up at Ueno station at around 6AM. Since she had Japan Rail Pass (which I highly recommend every JP tourist to get one especially if she / he likes to go on day trips outside Tokyo often), she didn't have to pay for the shinkansen (bullet train). For one ride, I paid around 9,000+ in total. My total transpo spending for the entire trip was around 22,000 JPY.

When we got there, we just took the taxi / cab and split the fare between two. It was around 3,870 JPY (one ride) I think.

If you've been following me from before, you would know that I'm really fond of making gratitude lists.

It's my way of taking care of myself. Being appreciative even things are tough is hard but it's a skill that I've been honing these years.

Honestly, I have sooo many things to be thankful for these days. I can't share everything yet but here are some of the big and little things that I do not take granted for.

I am thankful for:

Being able to wake up not feeling tired even if I had only a few hours of sleep

Lunch breaks at work where I can do and resume my creative work

Regular & funny conversations with my friends even if we are miles apart

Challenges in every day that train me to be tougher. Some problems just do not get better.. but I know, I'm the one who gets better in the end. ;)

I am thankful for having the sweetest readers / subscribers. Honestly, I can't believe this blog is still this active after soo many years. Your encouragement really inspires me to move mountains and keep on going while I'm on this journey of achieving small & big dreams. I may not be able to respond fast, but please do know that I read and I'm always grateful for your support and comments.

I know I've been tweeting these for weeks but I'm also very thankful for my clients at Rainbowholic Shop. My shop is still small and growing, but all your purchases really help me with this big dream of mine. :)

Life has not always been perfect for me (behind every successful milestone I reached, buckets of tears & blood were invested btw haha), and I actually like it as it is. Call me crazy but I even appreciate the not-so-good days I've had this year. Looking back, I cannot even remember these days in detail, haha! Maybe the positive journaling has taken effect? ;)

I am thankful for people who have made my days brighter. You guys know who you are. :) To my k-drama lovin' friends who would tag me about the updates and other funny memes, thank you for your time, haha! Lastly, I'm grateful for Korea / the Korean people because they produce so many entertaining kdrama series that have taken over my life (not sure if it's really "in a good way" though, lol). Thank you 7-eleven Japan for making kimchi nabe + iced caffe late available everywhere, too! Lol, I'm getting so random right now.

Anyway, let me just be the ridiculously thankful person even just for this day, haha~

How about you? What are the things / moments that you are thankful about? Would love to know about your thoughts! :)